1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to obstacle removal using point cloud and depth map data, and more specifically to foreground obstacle removal in digitally captured images using point cloud and depth map data. Even more specifically, the present invention relates to foreground obstacle removal in digitally captured images using point cloud and depth map data to separate desired background subject matter from undesired foreground obstacles.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
When a picture (or image) is taken (or captured), its composition may include certain structures or objects that are undesirable. For example, when we take a photo of an outdoor scene, a building, sporting event, wildlife or other animals, or the like there may be structures (i.e., structures composed of geometric features characterized by foreground structure and openings through which background subject matter can be viewed, e.g., a fence or fence-like structure) located between the camera and the scene photographed.
Such structures may be esthetically undesirable to the photographer or artist capturing the image.
Many image editing or inpainting techniques have been recently developed to remove such undesirable structure and fill the holes left behind in a visually plausible way. However, many existing inpainting techniques require human interactions to label the undesirable structure to be removed. Such labels may take different forms, including strokes, structural boundaries, specified colors, etc. This human labeling step is usually labor intensive (especially in processing a large collection of images) and may require experience and skills.